Cataract surgery is the safest and most common surgeries in the world. The surgery involves removing the eye’s natural cloudy lens and permanently replacing it with a clear artificial lens called an intraocular lens implant (IOL). Eyeglasses may be required in addition to the IOL for best vision after cataract surgery. Surgery is indicated when you cannot function satisfactorily due to decreased vision caused by the cataract, typical symptoms include cloudy vision, halos, glare, and decreased contrast sensitivity. The goal of cataract surgery is to correct the decreased vision that was caused by the cataract. Cataract surgery will not correct other causes of decreased vision, such as glaucoma, diabetes, or age-related macular degeneration.
Cataract surgery is relatively fast, with the entire visit lasting 2-3 hours, and the actual surgery only lasting around 15-30 minutes. Overall the surgery is quite comfortable, and a light sedative is given during surgery to relax the patient. Mild discomfort for the first 24 hours is typical, but severe pain would be extremely unusual and should be reported immediately to the surgeon. Healing time is relatively fast. Vision improves within a week, regular activities can be resumed after just 1 week, and the eyes should stabilize after 3-6 weeks. If both eyes require cataract surgery, only one eye will be done at a time. The second eye may be done about two weeks following the first operation.
